Poster Peek: ‘Green Lantern’

Out of all of the comic-book superhero-to-film enterprises currently being assembled for major market release, “Green Lantern” is both the most curious and the most worrying. The first pic released of star Ryan Reynolds in the emerald suit was a disappointment, and was not met with particularly favorable reactions from the online fan community, while the movie’s presentation at this year’s Comic-Con was all but overshadowed by Marvel’s troop of hulkin’ heavy-hitters.

However, I still have a fairly substantial amount of faith in director Martin Campbell, who has had a solid track-record of reintroducing beloved iconic characters (James Bond, Zorro) to new audiences, and proved in “Casino Royale” to have a spectacular knack for crafting visceral, realistic, dramatically-involving action sequences. Sure, his Mel Gibson flick “Edge of Darkness” was a gruelingly boring wash-out, but everyone’s entitled to an off-day now and then (yes, “The Vertical Limit” also falls into this sad-face category).

During Comic-Con, Warner Bros. and DC unveiled a series of four cool, minimalist teaser posters – which bear a slight resemblance to the ad campaign for 2009’s “Star Trek” — featuring Reynolds’ Hal Jordan, Blake Lively’s Carol Ferris, Peter Sarsgaard’s porn-mustached Hector Hammond and Mark Strong’s Sinestro. Although glossy shots of the two attractive leads have already popped up in a few magazines and web exclusives, and Sarsgaard’s Leader-esque dome was the subject of a series of spy pics, this is our first real glimpse at the eagerly-anticipated Sinestro.

Somewhat surprisingly, the filmmakers have gone in the opposite direction that many expected and, rather than toning down the character’s strange facial features, have amped up the weird-factor by painting the actor’s mug a vibrant bright red and giving him piercing yellow contact lenses. When viewed in contrast to the other profile posters, it looks a bit silly, but I’m kinda pleased that the studio is embracing the alien nature of the villain and going gonzo with it. I just hope it pops on screen and doesn’t bog down the oh-so talented Strong too much.

What do you IJMers think of Sinestro’s look? How about the rest of the characters? And will “Green Lantern” be able to weather the Marvel summer-movie storm it’ll be entering into? Soar on over to our comments section and hit us with your best verbal shots!

I amreally excited for this movie, I think Reynolds has done amazing in past action movies. I just think that Green Lantern is being over-looked because of the other comic/movie adaptations coming out in 2011 (The Green Hornet, Thor, Captain America and X-Men First Class)I think the biggest problem with bringing this story to life in our reality is that all of his powers comes from a ring, but I am excited to see how they are going to pull off this movie!